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American Film Festivals

Worldwide, Hollywoodis widely considered as the golden standard in movie making. While the Indian movie makers produce more movies per year than the US, the films from Hollywood reach a far more global audience and rankes in significantly higher revenues. This global grasp covering all topics from the mundane to the controversial such as the use of dog coats in the family movie 101 Dalmatians only serves to fuel the multiple annual American Film Festivals where various films are made available to the public’s viewing pleasure. In this post, we will take a look at some of the major American film festivals and how these events serve to re-emphasize the message of American dominance in the film-making scene.

The San FranciscoInternational Film Festival. Founded in 1957 and held in beautiful San Francisco, California, the San Francisco International Film Festival is one of the oldest of such events in the United Statesand attracts the attention of artists, film-makers and producers from all over the world. Movie enthusiasts who want to keep exploring the genre should book a trip toSan Francisco for two weeks in the spring to absorb its selection of about 150 films from over 50 countries within that period, annually.

Ann ArborFilm Festival. Established in 1963, the Ann Arbor Film Festival specifically focuses on experimental and independent films that are typically missed by the public’s eye due to a limited advertising budget. If you are eyeing a specific Indie movie for a year, you can watch it at the Ann Arbor Film Festival held around the last week of March every year atAnn Arbor,Michigan,USA.

New YorkFilm Festival. Since 1963, the New York Film Festival has embodied and represented all the glitz and glamour that American film-making can offer. You can get more information about the New York Film Festival by checking the Film Society of Lincoln Center which runs the festival and selects the films that are to be shown during the period.

SeattleInternational Film Festival. Seattleis often considered a small city especially when compared to the giants like San Franciscoand New York, but Seattle’s small profile belies its titanic status in the film community. The Seattle International Film Festival is one of the largest film festivals in the United States where every film-buff go to have a look at what’s coming in the world on movies and film-making. The first Seattle Film Festival was held in 1976 and since then, it hasn’t looked back. In 2006, the festival boast an impressive turn-out of 160,000 audiences and the numbers are only expected to get bigger in the succeeding years. In 2010, the festival showcased more than 400 films which counts as one of the largest line-ups in any film festival in any part of the world.

AtlantaFilm Festival. The Atlantaevent is smaller than the others mentioned on this list but its status as an Academy-Award qualifying festival for independent films give it premiere status versus all others. Any filmmaker who wants a shot at being nominated for an Oscar undoubtedly eyes the Atlantaevent and will follow it closely until the qualifying awards are handed out to the most deserving creations.

There are plenty of other American Film Festivals on offer, some smaller and younger than the ones mentioned here. Each serves its own audience and purpose, making it extraordinarily unique in its own right. The film festival culture has fueled renewed interest in films making it one of the most hallowed institutions in American Arts which is why we are likely to continue seeing more festivals blossoming and old ones continuing to gain attention in an increasingly digitized world.